Malaysia ready to go all out at Davis Cup
Malaysia will be joined by Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pacific Oceania, Philippines and Qatar in the tournament which will be held from July 16-19.
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The Star
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- The Star
Shuttlers' dreams rise at Asian Juniors but coach keeps them on guard
PETALING JAYA: The recent fine performances of the junior shuttlers has raised hopes for a positive outing in the Asian Junior Championships but national junior doubles coach Pang Cheh Chang is remaining cautious of his charges' chances in the tournament starting on Friday in Solo, Indonesia. Girls' doubles pair Dania Sofea Zaidi-Low Zi Yu and mixed doubles duo Loh Ziheng-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan especially are heading into the Asian meet on a high after capturing titles in the Malaysian Junior International Challenge in Perlis last week. Dania-Zi Yu, who bagged silver in the world junior meet last year, are Malaysia's best bets for gold in Solo while Ziheng-Noraqilah have also enhanced their chances for at least a medal with their positive showing at home. Malaysia's other medal hopefuls are likely to be Dania and Datu Anif Asrah in the mixed doubles and Ziheng-Tan Zhi Yang in the boys' doubles after both pairs finished runners-up in Perlis. Cheh Chang though believes his charges will face a tougher challenge in the Asian meet due to the presence of the likes of China, Japan and South Korea, who did not compete in the Malaysian tourney. 'Overall, our players' performances have been okay so far but we haven't met teams like China, Korea, Japan, India and Taiwan,' said Cheh Chang. 'The most important part for us is preparation and team work. We have to go step by step.' Dania-Zi Yu and their teammates will first compete in the mixed team event which will be held from July 18-22 before turning their attentions to the individual event from July 23-27. In the mixed team competition, Malaysia have been placed in Group B along with Indonesia, Singapore, Macau and Myanmar. Only the top two teams in the group will progress to the quarter-finals. In last year's edition, Malaysia won a silver through Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing (boys' doubles) while Siti Zulaikha Azmi (girls' singles), Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting (girls' doubles) and mixed team all contributed bronze medals.
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Malaysia ready to go all out at Davis Cup
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are set to host the Davis Cup tennis tournament for the Asian and Oceania region for the first time since 2015. Malaysia will be joined by Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pacific Oceania, Philippines and Qatar in the tournament which will be held from July 16-19.
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
Davis Cup captain wary of threat posed by Philippines, Kuwait
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite being the top seeds and having home ground advantage, Davis Cup captain Adam Jaya has stressed that Malaysia cannot afford to take any nation lightly during the Asia-Oceania Group IV competition which starts here on Wednesday (July 16). Malaysia will face second seeds Pacific Oceania, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Qatar and unseeded favourites, the Philippines, at the National Tennis Centre (NTC). Only the last two teams standing will earn promotion to Group III next year. Malaysia is on a mission for redemption after being relegated from Group III last year. It was a crushing moment as Malaysia had never gone lower than Group III in the past. Adam, who is a former national player himself, is aware that national pride is at stake but made it clear that returning to Group III will not be easy. "At least five or six of the nations competing in Group IV this year have previously competed as high as Group II in recent seasons," said Adam when met yesterday (July 12). "Group IV this year will definitely be very competitive. Worldwide, I believe tennis is getting tougher and tougher. "When I last captained the Davis Cup squad (2018) in Group III, we played Kuwait in the promotional playoff and lost. "Kuwait have had quality players in the past ranked as high as top-20 in the juniors and top-300 or 400 in the ATP rankings. "(Besides Philippines) I believe they could also be a factor here this year." The Philippines tennis federation was suspended by the ITF in late 2020 due to governance issues. The suspension was lifted in January last year which is why they are currently making their way back up from the lower divisions in both men's and women's tennis. Koay Hao Sheng, Leroy Yong, Darrshan Kumar, Daniel Prickett, Naufal Kamaruzzaman and Devesh Sarawanan have been shortlisted for the Davis Cup squad. The final five-man squad will be announced on Tuesday (July 15). Adam is pleased with the quality in the squad. "As I have said before, Hao Sheng will be our key player and he will likely play in both singles and doubles," said Adam. "As for the second singles slot it is still wide open. All of the other players are evenly balanced, which is a positive for us. "As for a partner to play with Hao Sheng in the doubles, Leroy, Darrshan and Daniel are all capable of filling the slot. "The doubles is important, even if we have won the first two singles matches, as it could be taken into account if it (group placing) goes to a countback. Hopefully it does not come to that. "I will look to rotate the players as we will be playing for four to five days and we need to keep our players fresh." The draw for the Group IV competition will be held on Tuesday. The nations will be split into two pools. The top-two teams in each pool will advance to the promotional playoffs.
